It is known that electronic communication equipment is conventionally enclosed in a communication chassis. When the electronic devices of the communication equipment operate, heat is produced at the same time. The communication chassis is a closed enclosure generally made of a metal material through one-step cast-molding process. However, being limited by the currently available casting techniques, the metal communication chassis usually has relatively low heat conductivity. As a result, heat produced by the electronic devices during operation thereof tends to accumulate in and concentrate at some particular areas of the communication chassis. The accumulated heat results in a relatively high temperature at these areas and cannot be easily dissipated from the closed communication chassis. When the temperature exceeds the range that can be accepted by the electronic devices of the communication equipment, the reliability or service life of the communication equipment is seriously adversely affected. However, for other areas in the communication chassis farther away from the heat-producing electronic devices, the temperature is much lower than that in those areas closer to or contacting with the electronic devices of the communication equipment. That is, the temperature distribution in the conventional communication chassis is extremely uneven to largely reduce an overall heat dissipation performance of the whole communication chassis. The currently available solutions for the above problems generally include enlarging an internal space of the communication chassis and improving the communication chassis material. However, these solutions would inevitably result in a bulky and heavy communication chassis.
It is therefore important to work out a way that can enhance the heat dissipation performance of the communication chassis without increasing its dimensions and weight.
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional communication chassis, which includes a chassis body 10, a cover 11, a plurality of supporting posts 12, and a machine board 13. The chassis body 10 defines an inner receiving space 101, and is provided on an outer surface opposite to the receiving space 101 with a plurality of radiating fins 103. The supporting posts 12 are arranged in the receiving space 101 adjacent to one side of the chassis body 10. The machine board 13 has a plurality of heat-producing electronic elements 131 mounted thereon and is connected to and accordingly supported on a top of the supporting posts 12. The cover 11 can be fitted in the receiving space 101 to cover the machine board 13.
The heat-producing elements 131 can include, for example, different chips, a central processing unit (CPU), and other integrated circuits (ICs). When these heat-producing elements 131 on the machine board 13 operate in the communication chassis, a large amount of high-temperature heat is produced. The produced heat is accumulated in the receiving space 101 and could not be quickly dissipated therefrom. The accumulated heat can only be transferred to the chassis body 10 via heat radiation. And only some part of the heat transferred to the chassis body 10 can be radiated from the radiating fins 103 on the chassis body 10 to dissipate outward. Since the heat-producing elements 131 on the machine board 13 are not in contact with any other heat conducting media, such as heat pipes or other heat-conducting elements, the heat produced by the heat-producing elements 131 could not be quickly transferred to the radiating fins 103 for dissipation. As a result, the heat in the communication chassis could not quickly diffuse outward and tends to damage the heat-producing elements 131 and interrupt computing process of the electronic communication equipment, resulting in poor communication signal quality. In some worse conditions, the heat-producing elements 131 would be burned-out or have shortened service life.
According to the above description, the conventional communication chassis has the following disadvantages: (1) having poor heat dissipation effect; (2) easy to cause abnormal operation of the electronic communication equipment; (3) tending to cause poor communication signal quality; (4) tending to shorten the service life of the electronic communication equipment; and (5) having high damage rate.
It is therefore tried by the inventor to develop a water-cooled communication chassis to overcome the problems in the conventional communication chassis.